IRVING — Owner Jerry Jones took a break from the Cowboys draft room Thursday morning to attend the dedication of the Bush Library.

A cynical fan base will ask why he had to return.

A team with numerous needs decided to drop from the middle of the first round to the back end and pick up an additional third round pick in the process. The Cowboys then used the No. 31 pick to select Wisconsin center Travis Frederick.

Surprised? You’re not alone. Frederick himself said he didn’t expect to be taken until the second round. He was projected to go in the second or third round.

“There is a lot to like about him,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s just a good, smart football player.

“He was the highest-rated player on our board when it was time to pick.”

The Cowboys didn’t simply move back a few spots in the first round of the draft. They nearly dropped out of the round entirely.

Jones agreed to give up the No. 18 pick in a trade with San Francisco to plummet to the 31st pick. The Cowboys got a third round pick (No. 74) from the 49ers in return.

Now, let’s put that in perspective. Three years ago, Jones gave up a third-round pick to move up three spots in the first round to select receiver Dez Bryant at No. 24.

This was the 60th draft day trade made by Jones since he purchased the team, and perhaps one of the more controversial. The owner said the team had only 19 players on its board with a first-round grade and the room was unanimous about wanting to move back.

“This was a draft where those moving back weren’t getting near what they should have,” said vice president Stephen Jones, who stressed the Cowboys weren’t alone in wanting the 49ers first round pick.

“It’s a real debate about what is more valuable, one player or two players. What you have to come to grips with is the guy you pick at No. 31 and the one you get at No. 74 a better deal than what we would have picked at No 18?”

The Cowboys will have a better idea how that argument will play out Friday night.

The Cowboys were holding their breath that one of the elite guards in this draft — either North Carolina’s Jonathan Cooper or Alabama’s Chance Warmack — would still be available at No. 18. History said that was a reasonable expectation.

But those hopes went up in smoke early. A league that has drafted a guard in the top 10 only once in the previous 16 years took Cooper and Warmack in the top 10 this night.

Two other players high on their board, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and safety Kenny Vaccaro, soon followed.

When that happened, the Cowboys and Jones appeared committed to moving back. The lure of defensive tackle Shariff Floyd, who was surprisingly still available, wasn’t enough to persuade them to stay put.

“We feel like first of all, defensive line is a position of strength for us,” Jerry Jones said. “No. 2, in our system, we probably would put a premium on a quick twitch potential three technique. We view him as not that, but someone who is capable of getting there.”

There was much talk going into this draft about the team’s need to find a walk-in starter in the first round. The team did that last year with cornerback Morris Claiborne and the year before with offensive lineman Tyron Smith.

Frederick could challenge Phil Costa for the starting job. But the Cowboys also like the fact he can play guard and could decide to let him compete for a starting job there.

“You want to make that decision as early as you can,” Garrett said of where Frederick will play.

Fredrick is only the second center selected by the Cowboys in the first round. Robert Shaw was the first back in 1979.

Something else of note: A team that had not selected an offensive lineman in the first round since Jones purchased the team in 1989 has now done so in two of the past three drafts.

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) as part of the station’s wall to wall draft coverage on April 25-27.

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